Tag Archives: Lighting

The essential feature of good lighting, in the home and out, is to make sure the user’s demands and expectations are met. Additionally, a lighting scheme should enhance our love of life through aesthetic beauty. Bedrooms are no exception, whether at home or in a hotel they are spaces that demand versatility to meet the expectations of a demanding user.

Often, form does follow function and this is a good place to begin when planning to light a bedroom. Essentially, key demands on the space will dictate our layers of light.

The layering of light ensures that the three-dimensional space of a room has light emitted from more than one actual level, enhancing interest to the eye. In the absence of good layering, the lighting scheme can flatten the space; we need to find a good contrast of light and shadow and throw light in different directions. Also, good layering of light in bedrooms will ensure the eye is not subjected to glare. Avoid downlights directly over the pillows, cover lamps in shades (even from below) to cater for someone lying in bed looking up into the fitting.

Bedroom Lighting Tips:

Think function

A good level of illumination for general use, cleaning, making the bed, dressing etc

Downlights – do not position over the pillows and try to wash walls and fabrics with them and use them to create indirect light.

Table and floor lights with shades that will produce warm colours of white if possible.

Decorative pendants and wall lights – avoiding exposed lamps.

Light the interiors of wardrobes and cupboards especially if they have a dark finish that soaks up light.

Think low

A lower level of lighting for relaxing, watching tv with your feet up, reading a book etc

LED reading lights at the bedside

Table lights

Be adaptable

Dimmable circuits – make sure any downlights that contribute to this mood level of light are switched separately to the overhead downlights that infill light into the space.

Up-light from a high-level piece of furniture to produce reflected light.

A very low level of light to assist bathroom trips in the middle of the night without waking yourself or your partner up with a marker light on a movement sensor.

Dimmable individual light fixtures.

The personal touch

Create something personal. The bedroom is arguably the most private room we have and is, therefore, a space that demands a personal touch.

Ceiling height allowing – maximise the space with a stunning pendant

Oversize free-standing light fixtures where you can – lighting looks better when bigger.

Dressing rooms

A more functional extension of the bedroom, light the user from 2 directions to minimise shadowing.

Use wide beamed ceiling lights.

Wall lights to throw light into the space horizontally.

Wash a wall or wardrobe to bounce light into the space.

Light around a mirror so the viewer is lit evenly.

The luxury of not having to reach for the light switch or get out of bed to control the lights has been on the scene for some time now, as lighting controls become connected to the internet and home wifi hub – allowing your tablet or phone to become the controller. There are clever cheaper ways to also do this with IP addressable lamps that allow you to change the colour temperature of white from a warm white in the evening to a colder white for the day, they can even change the colour of light to suit your duvet! However, we find clients that can afford such systems generally try it once and when they get the opportunity to do it again, they opt back for the simplicity of a switch or dimmer knob!

Orange Lighting has designed lighting for all sorts of bedrooms, from hotels, grand residential master bedrooms through to care home bedrooms. The methodology is always the same – protect the eye from glare and give it something interesting to look at. Cater for multi-use and have some fun. As lighting designers, we mix the technical with the aesthetics, enhancing an interior scheme to maximise it’s potential. The world of LED lighting has come a long way but it’s application still needs careful thought.

If you have a bedroom project – call us to review your lighting options.

We have mentioned the alien look of some LED lamps in earlier editions of this newsletter. The first generations of LED lighting technology certainly posed a few headaches for designers. Many lamps had grotesque shapes that needed concealing behind shades in order to hide their hideousness. It has been a real hurdle for LED manufacturers trying to win market share in the interior design sector. However it is beginning to look like certain manufacturers have been listening and things are about to change!

Essentially – in what is termed as ‘retro-fit’ in the lighting industry, form-factor (the shape) of bulbs and lamps are going back to basics. It seems that it has finally sunk in that we don’t want lamps that look like ‘corn on the cob’ or lollypops or worse – props from Star Trek. In fact LED is even revisiting the designs by Edison himself over 100 years ago. After all these original form-factors were ultimately compatible with the luminaires that still exist in period and contemporary interiors today. What a relief to have compact florescent spirals and early LED heatsink fins behind us!

I have picked two examples of popular categories – GLS ‘globes’ and GU10 spotlights as examples of the new trend. I have also chosen a UK manufacturer Integral LED, a brand I trust amongst the multitude of international offerings.

GU10 in the Spotlight

In the development of the Classic Glass GU10 range, Integral recognised that luminaires in the halogen era were designed to allow light to pass through the wall of the globe – effectively shining light backwards. Many luminaires (especially in bathrooms) are designed to allow this attractive iridescent and multi-coloured light to be pooled on the ceiling. To enable this effect, the lamp holder in many fixtures was cut back to the stem of the lamp itself. Essentially these glass bodied LED GU10s have revived the aesthetic look of a traditional spotlight. The solid therma-plastic body of current LED models has been replaced by glass which is a perfect complement for many existing decorative luminaires.

It is recent innovation that has allowed this traditional look. The light source consists of several LED chips or surface mounted devices that combine to generate a ‘COB-like’ light that decreases the heat profile of the lamp thus allowing for the use of glass. Effectively, the design has mimicked the good looks of the halogen dichroic GU10 that it is destined to replace. These are not to be confused with low voltage lamps – they are driven by 240v but they will bring many existing luminaires back into the sphere of low energy lighting.

The case of the Classic GLS Bulb

I won’t have to remind you of some of the truly weird shapes that have emerged in the attempt to replace the commonplace incandescent ‘bulb’. After all, we want a light source that is identical to the ‘Edison’ shape – visually compatible with table lamps, chandeliers (in the case of candle bulbs) and wall lights. Again, recent technological developments have helped manufacturers to find a design route to the past. In the case of the Integral GLS range – the LED filament provides an ideal solution for a lamp that emits light evenly in all directions akin to the traditional tungsten and halogen lamps that we know well. The mid powered LEDs are aligned on a thin strand of thermally conductive substrate and require relatively low power which translates into less heat. Additionally, the surrounding inert gas which is again highly thermally conductive, dissipates the remaining heat and effectively removes the need for an unsightly heatsink.

So the Dr Who props department can pack up and go home – the message is that we will be going back to the future of lighting!

If you are wondering how to use LED lighting to best effect in your next interior, give us a call at Orange Lighting for guidance and inspiration.

Sometimes lighting technology can pose an aesthetic challenge. It is almost as if the boffins in white coats don’t pay attention to us designer lovies in their daily quest to roll back science. For instance, here we are just recovering from bedecking our bar projects with squirrel cage lamps, having recovered from fitting out restaurants with Plumen lights when up pops yet another lamp for us to consider on the LED landscape. In the case of new LED filament technology, perhaps we should sit up and listen. Could this be an example of technical complementing the aesthetic?

Before we go any further – just a point of clarification – when we refer here to ‘filament’ lamps we don’t mean the pretty transparent bulbs that seem to hang in all the trendy bars currently – festooned throughout the West End. We are talking about a new LED technology that is dividing the lighting manufacturing scene. You may be familiar with COB (chip-on-board) LED lights. Here we need to talk about COG (chip-on-glass) which is an alternative LED technology. Whilst LED downlights throw their light in one direction often in a focussed pool of light there is another type of lighting which provides omni-directional illumination. The ubiquitous ‘Bulb’ or GLS provided this type of illumination since Edison developed it 100 years ago. Yet wave after wave of LED technology has bastardised the design with futuristic heat-sinks and weird shapes that don’t look good in Chandeliers and Table Lamps.

COG lights basically look identical to the incandescent lights and it is a technology that is best suited to lamps that spread their light 360 degrees.

The Technical bit

An LED filament is new way of packaging LED dies (or chips); mid powered small chips are directly mounted in-line onto a strand of glass. The need for a heat-sink is removed as the thermal management is provided by the filament itself and the inert thermal conductive gas within the glass bulb dissipates the remaining heat.

The Design bit
So what is so special about these lights? Obviously the market for decorative tungsten filament lamps is huge – testament to the number of squirrels around. They burn 60 watts each which is unsustainable. LED filaments will relatively sip power in comparison. They may not look very decorative now – but new versions will have elaborate filaments and very soon. LED filament lamps are cheap too. The lightness of the construction and the lack of heat-sink alloy will make these lights both inexpensive to buy and run. Couple these factors with the fact that dimmable versions are just around the corner and I anticipate a ‘spike’ of interest from the interior design community in the Autumn! I think we will find a whole host of new ways to design with these lights above and beyond current usage. So here are some ideas on how to incorporate them into your interiors.

Look out for a new range from Integral LED – the third generation OMNI light offers GLS through to candle bulbs and very high lumen levels – with 200 lm/w promised shortly. As an Integral LED stockist you can be first to hear of the new arrivals by registering your interest now.

Slot lighting is a technique that has become increasingly popular in recent years. Once the preserve of the retail world, it has grown across interior sectors and is now often seen in domestic as well as commercial spaces. Ostensibly it is a device used to remove the clutter of fittings and fixtures and to preserve a ceiling in its simplest form. However, a slot can offer so much more and its lines have an immense impact of the appearance of a space as a whole. Again, LED has had an influence in the resurgence in the use of lighting slots. The compact nature of LED has allowed for a shallow groove design and the lower heat management profile required has made the products easier to deploy.

Of course there is nothing new under the sun. Echoes of slot lighting can be seen as far back as the Art Deco era – a period that was obsessed by transforming the unnecessary and streamlining detail into flow. In many ways that is what a slot can do to a space. It has a major influence on the perspective of a room and can draw the eye toward focal points. These scores in the ceiling can effectively shape a space with dramatic effect – to lengthen a room for instance.

Until recently slots would exclusively house spotlight fixtures. If used correctly, these fittings would be entirely concealed within a prefabricated extrusion that would be physically installed into a ceiling’s plaster work or panels. The slots are painted black to ensure that no light is reflected out of the feature. Multi-angled downlights are then positioned to create the desired pools of light or to wash a wall with an ambient or defused illumination and naturally stronger task light can be incorporated too. The overall effect is neatness and a ‘clean-lines’ room design. One step beyond is to use these lines to complement an interior. Perhaps this is easier with a contemporary design, yet it is still used to good effect within more ornate period spaces. So, consider the impact carefully before installing.

Once again LED has provided an easy to use solution. A continuous strip of light can be concealed within a 53 mm wide groove in a ceiling and provides an ultimately flexible feature, available to wash a wall or focus on a region like a seating area or dining table. Again the slots themselves offer travel lines for the eye and provide the opportunity to score a ceiling in a ‘criss-cross’ design – in a lighting dance of its very own. Self-contained and prefabricated units offer a simple yet effective ‘continuous’ light solution in a wide choice of colour of white hues.

Why not explore slots in your next scheme? Call us and we will navigate you though the product alternatives.

As designers, most of us learn the importance of lighting walls by accident. Very quickly we realise that the way light ‘paints’ a wall is a crucial factor in creating a desired appearance. In fact, designing a room with the intention of using walls as a reflective surface is key to a professional result. In this post we discover that walls are themselves a great tool for distributing light in a space.
As you can imagine – washing a wall with light is a great way of enhancing the colour of the wall and the soft furnishings nearby. However I would argue that there is a further opportunity to embrace reflected light that is bounced off the wall into the centre of the space. Light sources naturally describe unique shapes on adjacent walls too. By using due consideration, these light patterns can add additional texture to a finished interior.

There are some key applications that benefit from illuminated walls. In offices – the illumination of walls is very important to reduce the glare factor from windows. The illumination of walls reduces the perceived contrast between the streaming daylight and the relative dimness of the interior and adds to the overall illumination of a space. Washing walls in a corridor effectively pushes the walls away – increasing a feeling of space. General wall washing incorporates the illumination of pictures which is especially useful if the hanging ‘artwork’ element has not been decided upon before the installation of the lighting!

When walls are of a colour that is reflective, as opposed to a light absorbent darker colour; the surface will act as a natural reflector. Reflected light is wonderful as it distributes light into a space. Even better, when the source of the light is completely hidden, the light produces virtually no glare.

Lighting a wall is typically effected by using a spotlight, a ceiling fixture or a downlight. A spot and downlight create a similar effect with scalloping (an intense pool of light cast by a near light source on the wall). A diffused light from a ceiling light e.g. an LED panel, (depending on its proximity) will give an even wash although resulting in a very generalised illumination. It is useful to remember that when a light hits a surface, it will reveal a shape of light according to how the light left the fixture. Hence a round fitting’s light will show the curve of the fitting in a ‘scallop’ shape on the wall. If you use an un-diffused light such as an LED downlight with a clear glass (with an unadulterated LED chip on view as many do) – it will give a very clear, sharper edged delineation. Choosing a frosted or prismatic lens will soften the edges.

So there are occasions when you should use an intentional wash of light in an interior project but how is this best produced?

Downlight with snoot approx 600mm from the wall light is directed down and across to the wall. Create a row with spacings according to the beam angle chosen and how light will fall on the wall.

Recessed downlight in the ceiling angled at 45 degrees out of sight from the viewer. This fires the light more directly onto the surface – positioning of the fitting is critical

If the light is leaving a slot, a linear shaped fixture – then the light is evenly washed over the wall, omitting scalloping. See top images lit with this fitting.

Hidden LED source. Purpose made extrusions angling a hidden linear LED source will evenly wash light down. It will be top heavy with the majority of the light being at the top but nevertheless a wash of light is achieved – like a waterfall of light spilling from the ceiling down the wall – fabulous.

So be bold and wash those walls in your next interior project. You will find that it will add an extra dimension to the room design whatever the look you wish to achieve.

Remember we have plenty of ideas and practical advice on the best use of lighting. Call us and we will be happy to help!

It would be impossible to imagine a world without downlights after all you find them almost everywhere but let us take a moment to ask ourselves why? Is this long lived love affair justified or is it ripe for review? Certainly if we revisit our principles of good practice – there are many limitations to these simple luminaires, so perhaps we should consider whether we have become lazy in our over use of the all too popular light source?

The 1980’s saw the boom of the low voltage downlight. A fabulous tool to choose exactly where you wanted the light to fall and it remains extremely useful up to the present day. The ubiquitous downlight allowed almost anyone to ‘design’ their own lighting scheme and (as a consequence) in came the grid and row upon row of downlights.

However good practice teaches us that the key to designing a lighting scheme is tencompass the architecture, the interior and the people within it and not just in the space. After all, the form of the architecture and the interior itself – often dictates where to position the fixtures and how best to present places and structures in light. The best schemes are formed ‘naturally’.

Throughout the design process glare is our enemy and the downlight is a major culprit – generating intense light from a small aperture. Maybe we should spare a creative thought for a diffused light that is easy on the eye as a ready alternative?

Downlights can be a safety net – creating ample coverage in a dependable and familiar way that is not challenging as a method of delivering light. Additionally as design professionals there is often a realistic need to choose a simple design route that a budget dictates rather than proposing a riskier and time consuming lighting solution.

Why we like downlights:

Downlights provide a clearly defined pools of light that introduce ‘lights and darks’ compared to a single source diffused light.

Downlights are flexible and they generate light exactly where you want it.
They offer a concealed light source as a recessed fitting – hidden in the ceiling.
Ultimately a cost effective solution.

Push the envelope! Let’s have a look at the alternative to downlights…

Downlight: Wide beam downlight to create general ambient light.Alternative: Use large or multiple opal glass ceiling lights or pendants to create a wide diffused light.

Downlight: Tighter beamed downlights to focus and create pools of light, over tables for instance.Alternative: Drop pendants over areas and back up with reflected light off the ceiling or if possible adjacent wall.

Downlight: wall washing downlights.Alternative: Use a hidden linear LED to wash light down a wall.

Remember this e-shot when you next mark up a plan for the lighting and think twice before pockmarking the ceiling with downlights!

There is no greater ‘workhorse’ in commercial lighting than the all too common fluorescent grid unit – deployed in a typical suspended ceiling. So it is logical that the replacement of these fixtures offers the greatest savings for office based companies. The LED panel replacement has been on the scene for a while and has constantly improved over time in terms of light quality and has been tumbling in price!

So there has never been a better time for your clients to opt for LED panel lighting to enjoy the substantial energy savings available, but do you choose back lit or edge lit? How do you match the colour temperatures of the existing units and is ‘glare’ a factor? All will be revealed!

Switching to Save
There are very compelling reasons to switch to LED Panels; with a payback of around 2 years or less depending on installation and that is before you truly consider the impact abandoning the overheads of tube replacement, disposal costs and other maintenance charges associated with the old fluorescent units. After all 600×600 LED panels are cost effective and will continue to be – given the trend in increased energy prices.

Replacing a unit
Traditional benchmark: typically 600 x 600mm ceiling tile sized luminaire would use 4 x 18W fluorescent T8 lamps – 72W with an output of 3240 lumens that will drain 88W of power including the power consumption of the ballast.

Key Issues

Backlit or edgelit?: There is a difference and depending on how and where the LED chips are positioned.

Edgelit has LED chips around the perimeter of the fitting and uses an acrylic or polycarbonate diffuser to carry the light across the fitting and then out.Pro – will be a shallow depth panel,Con – light is having to be redirected so arguably performs less efficiently. Cheap models can have a faint shadow around the perimeter where the light guiding plate isn’t positioned correctly. LEDs have to be driven harder to achieve the same amount of light produced compared to a backlit panel.

Backlit logically makes more sense as the light is immediately travelling in the right direction.Pro – more efficient use of light and more uniform diffusion.Con – currently needs about 80mm depth but that is still acceptable in the majority of cases.

Colour temperature: 4000K is the standard colour of white and I value the available option to choose 3000K warm white for some interior applications. Remember that a colder 4000K fitting will deliver a little more light for the same power used compared to a 3000K fitting.

CRI: colour renditioning must be over 80 RA.

Colour Tuning: LED panels can offer the opportunity to control and change the colour temperature, to engage with our circadian rhythm.

IP rating: Protection against the ingress of moisture. Many panels are IP44 as standard and you can get IP65 if jet cleaning is required.

Dimmable: Choose carefully if you want to dim the fitting and how it will be controlled? A panel with external driver will allow you to reselect a driver to suit the requirement of the building.

Glare factor (UGR): This is a bit of a poser in terms of a question. As office dwellers, we are used to traditional fluorescent fixtures – with their lamps tucked up deep within the fitting and shrouded by louvres to direct the light. A LED panel with a diffuser that is flush with the ceiling will surely produce more glare?

As a question it is actually not that simple to answer as a glare factor is calculated by comparing the background illumination of a room with the fitting. In reality the amount of fittings in a room will vary. So glare can be quantified by using a standardised room but it will vary upon application. The upshot is flush diffusers of LED panels deliver light in an acceptable way as long as the right amount of fittings are used for a given application.

Efficiency: there is much less light lost within a LED luminaire compared to fluorescent. A fluro tube sends light in all directions and the optics of the fitting collect the light and direct it back out – up to 40% of the light can be lost. LEDs are very directional so the light can be delivered more efficiently

Lumens per Watt – Lm/W – efficiency – measures how much power is being used to deliver the amount of light created. We should be looking at around 80 lm/w upwards. Example – a 35W panel delivering 3200 lumens of light has an efficiency of approx 90 lm/W – whereas the traditional fluorescent fixture mentioned above would be 37 lm/w

Fire: Something easily forgotten but check to see if a chosen panel can be used in escape routes – Part B of the building regulations referring to the spread of fire within a building. Part B separates materials into 2 categories of acceptable or unacceptable because of the risk of burning and dripping flaming material onto occupants. Acrylic diffusers will not pass for emergency escape routes – polycarbonate will meet the standard.

Check the type of grid ceiling – some panels will not fit into concealed grid ceilings – the type of grid ceiling where you only see the 600×600 tile.

Switching to LED is the very best advice you can offer to a client in terms of cost savings. We have tested a very wide range of highly reliable yet keen priced panels that are readily available.

Until recently most of us who design and specifying lighting have been working in two dimensions but now there is a third. Our decisions about lighting tend to range between the aesthetic or functional. In essence we decide on a scheme that matches the purpose of a space or to make it beautiful. Now the unfolding realm of how light can impact our health offers a whole new world of opportunities many of which are now commercially viable.

I recently attended a day’s conference on Circadian Lighting and Health organised by Photonstar LED. Contributors from Arup, Health England and Steven Lockely professor from Harvard who specialises in neuroscience and sleep. It was a true moment of revelation concerning the practical application of this technology for all designers and I am excited to convey the real opportunities we should all appreciate in our design practice.

Amazing Fact 1
Recent history has discovered that our eyes have a cell (SCN cell) that is hard wired directly back to our internal body clock within the brain. Yes we all have an internal clock that is incredibly accurate and sends signals out throughout the body. Each individual’s clock will run near a 24 hr cycle but it is often not exact – it can vary in terms of accuracy. Our bodies recalibrate this clock with light everyday and this is why blind people have the added challenge of becoming out of sync with day and night.

So as designers – what do we do with that information?

We need to embrace the fact that if we produce the right type of light we can reprogram our body clock. But what is the right type of light…?

Amazing Fact 2 – The right type of light will manipulate our levels of stimulation.

Fact – Shift workers have the most accidents at 5 am in the morning.Fact – Astronauts who see day and night every 90 mins need light to tune their bodies for the tasks they have to complete.

This SCN cell is most stimulated by the wavelength of light within the blue spectrum. Give it a blue enriched diet then it’s firing on all cylinders. Give it red and we’re getting ready to sleep…

So we should paint our hotel rooms red and our schools blue!? Well that may not be great aesthetic but we can assist this natural factor with the colour of light we provide.

As a future upgrade to the Space Station NASA are implementing a lighting system that will calibrate to this principle. Before a space walk the astronauts will subject themselves to a period of 6500K blue enriched light, invigorating the body. To induce sleep they will bathe in very warm (blue free) light before they slip on their eye mask.

Question – what does this have to do with me if I am specifying for a hotel?

Does your clients hotel / restaurant / bar want to make money – yes. You want to give them extra warm welcoming light to invite them to settle comfortably – of course – but what colour of light is going to stimulate them more to spend money you may ask?

Question – what does this have to do with me if i am specifying for a residential project?

We are mostly all lovers of 2700K and 3000K at home – the warm end of the scale and rightly so as it’s a comfortable light to live with. Balance this with a blue enriched higher output of light in areas of task activity – study, exercise. Preset the body with warm light before sleep – avoiding devices and screens that will suppress sleep with a (surprisingly) small dosage of light containing blue.

How can we practically implement this change of light colour?

Coming onto the market now – lighting that will tune itself according to the natural rhythm of our bodies – and help tune our bodies to the environment and tasks at hand.

Do call us if you want to review of the product opportunities that are currently available and that are trusted by Orange lighting.

Increasingly we are posed with a question when we refurbish a scheme – whether it is better to specify dedicated LED light fittings or choose retro-fit lamps for existing fixtures? It’s a choice that can be tricky – so I thought it would be useful to share my criteria with you all. The truth is – LED lamps are improving constantly and I would recommend the current generation of lamps to anyone simply looking for a replacement. However – when it comes to professional lighting schemes – many of which must fulfill a function – some other considerations must be taken into account.

This is my selection criteria when choosing between a retro-fit lamp and a dedicated fitting.

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